4. Rally Round IP Connections

The other keynote star was Seagate's prototype Maxtor Shared Storage II. This Network Attached Storage device was one of six network devices that senior program managers Glenn Ward and Jim Barber set up on stage in six minutes - not because the demo was rigged but because devices that implement the Windows Rally technologies configure themselves. Instead of running a software installer to set up a wireless access point, with Windows Rally you plug it in, right-click on the icon that appears in the Network Explorer and type in your SSID. Ward showed connecting a Wi-Fi digital camera and having images show up immediately in Explorer then sending those images automatically to a Sideshow picture frame, again by right-clicking on the device in Explorer and choosing Install.

Windows Rally uses standards in Vista like Link Layer Topology Discovery, Web Services for Devices and Plug and Play eXtensions but we're only now seeing hardware with support built in. Ward suggested Rally would become "the standard way for IP-connected devices to interact with Windows" and Bill Gates talked about the hardware innovation that could enable: "even things like security or cameras, or home control, which have just been very niche oriented, now with this ease of set up we see many of those things coming into the mainstream".

Wireless USB is still in the process of being certified but there were many component suppliers in the exhibition showing off the chipsets and components that will make USB peripherals connect without a cable. That doesn't mean USB is past it, especially when you look at chipset manufacturers like DisplayWire, who have a hub that connects to a notebook by USB and gives you Ethernet and DVI connections to multiple monitors as well as mouse and keyboard, all on one USB port. This is the company that developed the chipset in Toshiba's UWB DVI dock demonstrated at CES this year; they'll use any connection you have available to connect any device you might need when you're using a laptop on your desk.